Just weeks after the Dexter government was accused of legislating Acadian seats out of the House of Assembly, our legislature was the site of a model parliament for the nation-state Acadie.

It happens to be Halifax’s turn to host the 2013 Acadian Youth Parliament, which has attracted 71 young people from the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia.

The premier this weekend, Xavier Lord-Giroux, a Dieppe native who attends the Universite de Moncton, said he was well aware of the controversy around the changes to the three Acadian seats in this province, which has sparked a legal challenge by the Federation acadienne de la Nouvelle Ecosse.

He was diplomatic when asked about it.

“Our simulation is not based on that. We know it exists, but we’re not here to fight (it),” he said. “Even though the motion passed, and the Acadian constituencies will not exist anymore, we can continue to (vote for) future MLAs (from) the Acadian culture.”

A bit of leftover business from the fall. The report of MPs’ individual expense summaries for 2011-12 was filed in Ottawa, with Bluenose members racking up $4.5 million in expenses like riding office costs, flights back and forth to Ottawa, accommodations in the capital, staff and mailouts.

Cape Breton-Canso Liberal Rodger Cuzner led the pack at $475,465, with fellow Cape Breton Grit Mark Eyking (Sydney-Victoria) just behind at $470,899. Both were well above the Bluenose average of $410,199.

Cuzner said the main reason the Capers spend the most is the extra flights between Sydney and Halifax.

He said the role of the MP and constituents’ expectations have changed over time.

“You’re back and forth almost every weekend,” he said. “One thing you get as a member of Parliament, you always get the sense you’re in the wrong place. When people are looking for you, they say, ‘You’re never home.’ And when you’re home, they say, ‘Why aren’t you in Ottawa?’”

Estabrooks coughed up $500 (out of his own pocket) for the chair, proudly noting that’s higher than the $320 cost of outfitting his office with second-hand furniture after he was first elected in 1998.

He says the splurge was for a good cause. The tavern owners held a silent auction for the chairs from tavern’s old location, closed in 2009, to raise money for the Walter Callow Wheelchair Bus service, which provides transportation for veterans in hospitals and people with disabilities, and Veterans Emergency Transition Services, which helps homeless veterans

Estabrooks said his donation was in memory of his father, a World War II veteran with New Brunswick’s North Shore Regiment.

Stoffer, the federal NDP veterans affairs critic and a transition services supporter, also picked up a chair, for $300.

He said it’s going to his Ottawa office.

“I’m going to keep it up there and show it to everyone, and maybe eventually re-auction it off for another charity for veterans, you never know.”